ALTERATION IN T-CELL SUBSET PHENOTYPES AS CELL MARKERS FOR REJECTION OR LONG-TERM ALLOGRAFT ACCEPTANCE IN ALLOGRAFTED RATS TREATED WITH ANTITHYMOCYTE GLOBULIN

The alterations in the absolute levels of lymphocyte phenotype subsets were measured in a rat model for heart allograft acceptance induced by antithymocyte globulin (ATG). In untreated, allografted rats all T lymphocytes decreased with 50% within 3 days after transplantation and recovered within 1 week. ATG alone induced a depletion of 75% of the T lymphocytes, which did not normalise until 60 days after treatment. During the first 10 days, ATG-treated rats with an accepted allograft had higher levels of T lymphocytes than those with rejections while the T lymphocytes recovered faster after day 10 in the later rats. The study demonstrates different alterations in T lymphocytes phenotype subsets between rejecting rats and rats with long-term accepted allograft. It also shows that the operation trauma with rejection as well as the ATG treatment strongly influence the T cell subsets.